Today there are about 64 versions of the English bible and there is obviously at least one bible for each of the 195 countries in the world and yet, still, when Jesus read what we now call the Old Testament He was reading exactly the same thing as we do today except of course He would be reading it in Hebrew.
So many bibles, so many languages and so many years have passed since those early scriptures were written. Are you ‘certain’ what you read today reflects those early writings?
Scripture says there is a God in heaven and that his son Jesus will return to the earth one day soon, are you ‘certain’ that this is true?
I don’t shout out that I am ‘certain’ because that would be dishonest, I haven’t actually seen God or Jesus, it would be more honest of me to say “I am ‘confident’… that sits much better with me.
Look how Isaiah 11 puts it. Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. I am going to that great book of Isaiah to build confidence in the word of God found within the Bible.
As you read your bible do you ever wonder, “am I reading a faithful representation of what a writer penned so long ago or has time, and the many translations muddied the waters?
There are academics out there such as Richard Dawkins, that say the bible and all it contains is baloney, you might want to consider that view bearing in mind that he is one of our better-known scientists.
I would question such people; "if you are any kind of scientist with an enquiring mind, how is it that not one of you has read these scriptures and managed to disprove them"?
After all the things they have said about it being false etc, it ought to be an easy target! Of course they have had a look at them, they couldn’t have resisted trying to remove this stumbling block to their own theories and yet, after all this time not one of them has been able to destroy God’s holy word and it’s certain they would like to. Surely that speaks volumes.
The book of Job is supposed to be the one of the earliest books in the bible written about 2000 BC, can what we read in there still be a faithful representation after all the years of evolving English language? At a bible exhibition I tried to read from Myles Coverdale’s English bible published in 1535, but we wrote and spoke very different English in those days, and I was unable to read it.
We might reasonably think that the inevitable changes to the English language over time could be presenting us today with something very different from what the original writers intended and that is perfectly reasonable so let’s check this out.
Matthew Mark Luke John… Isaiah!! Did you know that the book of Isaiah is sometimes known and the 5th Gospel?
We will concentrate largely on Isaiah because it is key in linking old to new. Have you ever noticed how the book of Isaiah seems to be a singularly important book in the bible? God seems to have made sure that this particular Old Testament book be preserved, perhaps because at the appropriate time it would be an important tool in the faith and preservation of the scriptures and a catalyst for confirming the truth and accuracy of the scriptures?
As we all know, those fascinating dead sea scrolls found only about 14 miles from Jerusalem in 1946 have underlined and confirmed the validity of the scriptures. Among those many scrolls there was only one book that was found to be complete and that was the Isaiah Scroll, also known as Manuscript A.
It mentions many important prophesies regarding the return of Jesus; previously unknown hymns, prayers, commentaries and the earliest version of the Ten Commandments. It has proved to be key to confirming the validity/accuracy of the scriptures.
So why is the book of Isaiah so key, why was it the best preserved of all the scrolls found with the dead sea scrolls? Isaiah contains some of the most detailed prophecies about the Messiah, both regarding His first coming (as a suffering servant) and His second coming (as a reigning king). For example, Isaiah 53 describes Jesus’ suffering, rejection, and atoning death in amazing detail and written ca 800 BC
We read of Jesus’s Second Coming: Isaiah 2:2-4, and v 11, and Isaiah 65 & 66 describe a future time when Jesus will rule, bringing peace and righteousness to the world. Jesus would have been familiar with these readings. That writing was prophetic, still in our bibles today and we still hold fast to it.
These scrolls were of course faithfully written copies of Isiah’s original writing and dated to around 200 BC, it demonstrated that the book of Isaiah had been faithfully preserved for over a millennium before the oldest previously known copies.
The book of Isaiah serves as a bridge between God’s judgment and His ultimate plan for redemption. The book spans historical warnings to Israel, near-future prophecies (like the Babylonian exile), and long-term future events (the kingdom of God). Isaiah is called “the fifth Gospel” because of how clearly it presents the themes of salvation, redemption, and the role of the Messiah.
Jesus Himself chose to read from Isaiah 61 , declaring that He was fulfilling its prophecy. Let’s look again at Luke 4: 16 to 21. Did you notice what it said in verse 17? “And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He wasn’t offered a particular reading but a rolled-up scroll which He unrolled and so He was looking for something specific. We read “He found the place where it is written: He didn’t just take the scroll and read what He was given, He specifically looked for these verses. And was it a coincidence that He was handed the book of Isaiah? Isaiah uniquely emphasizes God's control over world events. For instance, Isaiah chapters 44 & 45 prophesises Cyrus the Great by name (about 150 years before Cyrus was born) as the one who would allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Let’s see what it says in Isiah 45: 13. 150 years before he was born and which we know today came true. “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness: I will make all his ways straight. He will rebuild my city and set my exiles free, but not for a price or reward, says the Lord Almighty.” Written 150 years before Cyrus was born! Doesn’t that remind you of what God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Isaiah presents a strong contrast between human failure and divine hope.
The book of Isaiah is central to understanding the Bible’s overall message of salvation. It validates Scripture’s reliability, proclaims Christ’s mission, and offers a powerful vision of the coming Kingdom of God. No wonder it holds such a key place in both Jewish and Christian thought, no wonder it is sometimes known as the 5th gospel and no wonder Jesus chose to read from it.
When scholars compared the Isaiah Scroll from Qumran with the traditional Hebrew text of the Jewish Bible, which was copied centuries later, they found astonishing consistency. The variations were mostly minor—spelling differences or stylistic changes but not changes in meaning. This demonstrated that the Scriptures had been carefully and faithfully copied over time, countering claims that the Bible had been significantly altered.
Some sceptics argued that prophecies, especially about Jesus, were inserted later. However, the Isaiah Scroll proved that these prophecies existed at least two centuries before Jesus was born. Isaiah 53, which describes a suffering servant who is pierced for others’ transgressions, was clearly written long before Jesus’ crucifixion.
If the Isaiah writings are so well preserved, then surely other biblical texts are also faithfully preserved. The scrolls overall confirmed the reliability of the Hebrew Bible as we have it today. This is a powerful testament to God's ability to preserve His Word!
The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, particularly Manuscript A, not only strengthened faith but also served as a direct challenge to those who doubted the accuracy of Scripture.
It’s amazing how, even in modern times, archaeology continues to confirm the reliability of the Bible. So, when you do your daily readings, you can be confident they reflect God’s word and when you read the old testament readings you are reading exactly what Jesus was reading.
